The Werewolf Within
by DanielFactoid
Summary: [complete]Sirius is bored and is looking for some entertainment. Lucky for him, it's the full moon and Snape is hanging around. Set during Marauders' time.


Hi everyone! This is my first completed Harry Potter fanfic. How this all started was a mix of me going to a really crappy school dance and reading HP4. As you all know, GoF has the Yule Ball scene. So I thought, why doesn't Hogwarts have dances? No, this isn't a story about a dance- it just starts with one and leads off. It is a story based on that time Snape saw Lupin as a werewolf. I wasn't sure if JKR mentioned what year they were in when this occurred, so I went with year 5.

Rated: K+

Genre: General

Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter. Duh. I wish I owed Lupin, though….

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"The Werewolf Within"

Remus Lupin was walking off the dance floor and glancing at his watch just as two figures jumped him from behind. He stumbled a bit, then regained his composure as the two figures appeared at his sides, one wearing dark red dress robes, the other navy blue. Both were clutching bottle butterbeer.

"Remus, my man, why don't you dance?" the blue-clad boy on Lupin's left asked cheerfully.

Remus turned to Sirius Black, one of his best friends, "Sorry, it's that time of the month."

The 15-year-old to the right grinned and took a sip of his butterbeer, "Don't let any of the girls hear that, they'll think you're talking about something else."

Sirius let out a bark-like laugh and Remus watched as James Potter gave a dirty look to the Hufflepuff dancing with Lily Evans.

"See you later," Sirius muttered to Lupin, and strutted toward a blonde Ravenclaw, who blushed as he approached.

"See you tonight," James said in a low voice, glancing up at the darkening enchanted ceiling of the Great Hall, where couples danced to a new song. Lupin nodded, and walked out of the Hall, heading towards the great oak doors.

"Where are you going?" an oily voice from a body hidden in shadows snapped.

Lupin rested his hand on the door as Severus Snape, a fifth year (in Slytherin, though) who was obsessed with the Dark Arts, emerged. Lupin answered, "My mother is ill."

And with that, he walked out of the castle.

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Sirius was bored with the Ravenclaw. So, as soon as she got up to get a drink, he slipped off toward the Entrance Hall, hoping to visit Lupin as soon as he'd turned into a werewolf- he James, and Peter had recently all become Animagis so that they could romp around school grounds when Lupin transformed.

"Snivellus," Sirius breathed as he watched Lupin give a quick reply to Snape's question. Lupin walked out of the castle, with Snape staring at where he used to be.

Sirius watched Snape with disgust. He hated him as much as James did…

Then he grinned. He had a wonderful idea…

He approached Snape, who twirled around as he heard the footsteps. Snape's hand darted into his robe pocket for his wand- just in case.

"No need for wands, Snivelly."

Snape's hand remained in his pocket, gripping his wand tightly. His eyes blazed, "What do you want?"

Sirius leaned against the wall, acting cool, "You want to know where Lupin went?"

Snape's eyes glowed with the desire of this knowledge; however, he said, "No."

Sirius shrugged, "Well, me and James and Peter know. All you have to do is press the knot on the Whomping Willow with a long stick, and then go inside. But if you don't _want_ to, that's fine…"

Sirius turned away from Snape and a smile flitted across his face. He walked away from Snape and hid in the doorway of the Great Hall, watching him. After a few moments' decision, Snape hurried out of the castle.

Sirius grinned and swiftly walked into the Great Hall, finding James sitting miserably at a table with an ugly Hufflepuff girl, who was telling him the frightening tale of her once-permed hair.

"And _then_, I was, like, 'oh my God!'" she continued.

James looked up as Sirius approached. James mouthed 'save me', and Sirius grinned wider. He reached James' table, "C'mon, I want to show you something!"

James left the girl (who continued to talk although he was gone) and followed the excited Sirius. They passed Peter Pettigrew on their way out, and he tagged on after them.

Sirius began to laugh when the reached the Entrance Hall, doubled-up, his dark hair falling over his eyes. Between laughs, he told them of his trick on Snape.

Peter laughed along with him, but James' face drained of color, "We could get expelled for that! And expose Remus for what he is!"

Sirius followed after James, who was striding toward the great oak doors. He reached out and grasped his upper arm. James paused and Sirius sighed, "C'mon, Prongs, old Snivelly'll probably just chicken out any way."

"Yeah!" Peter chirped in agreement, his small, rat-like eyes shining.

James gave a quick look to Sirius and Peter, sighed, and pried loose of Sirius' grip, "No, plus Snivelly'll tell the whole school about Moony, and I can't do that to him."

James dodged Sirius and jogged out of the Entrance Hall, followed by Sirius and Peter.

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Snape crept closer to the Whomping Willow, the full moon shining above him. He held a long stick in his arms, and was barely breathing. His heart thumped painfully. He was about to discover the secret of one of the Gryffindors he hated most…

Moving the stick forward, he poked the knot. The branches ceased their attempts to hit him. Snape edged forward cautiously and gazed into a hole in the trunk of the tree. A shadow appeared in the hole, and Snape was only faintly aware of footsteps approaching him. He stood, staring into the hole, mesmerized as the owner of the shadow appeared. It was a horrific beast, with fangs and claws. It howled, long and piercingly. Snape would have dropped the stick and ran, but he couldn't move an inch. His feet were frozen to the spot, and his eyes were wide in fear as the beast began to run toward him… it was going to attack him; he was not ready to die at the hands of a Gryffindor-turned-werewolf-

An instant later, he was tackled by a figure from his left and the stick was knocked away from the knot. The beast was still running, but the tree's branches were no longer immobile, and one threw a nasty swing at the werewolf. It hit his leg, and he howled, turned, and ran further under the tree and out of sight.

The figure that had saved Snape's life was now standing, brushing dirt off his dress robes and pushing his hair out of his eyes. With a shock of horror, Snape realized who it was and jumped to his feet. Two other figures walked over to his life-saver, and Snape knew who they were right away.

Standing up, Snape turned to James, "I don't need you to save my life!"

James' nose wrinkled, "Then go die!"

Snape was about to reply when a light shone on them. All four turned and found themselves facing the Headmaster, Dumbledore, who was holding up his wand. He was frowning deeply, "What is going on?"

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There were bags under Lupin's eyes the next morning. He looked frail and his face was pale. He had a slight limp from where the Whomping Willow had hit him the night before and his brown hair was rather floppy.

Next to Remus in Dumbledore's office were James, Sirius, and Peter, sitting in chairs Dumbledore had conjured. Sitting several feet from Peter was Snape.

Dumbledore had questioned the four Gryffindors on what had happened the night before. Sirius was assigned two weeks' detention and 100 points from Gryffindor.

"I am ashamed," he began. "That any Hogwarts student would put another's life in danger. If you ever do anything like this again, you will be expelled, Sirius."

James saw the spark of fear in Sirius' eyes at these words; he knew all about Sirius' not-so-loving family.

Dumbledore turned to Snape, "I must ask you never to reveal what Remus is."

Snape nodded, but his insides were burning. He wanted to get back at Peter for laughing along with his friends… he wanted to get back at Lupin and Sirius for nearly killing him… and, most of all, he wanted to get back at James for saving his life…

Dumbledore dismissed them, and Snape went to the Slytherin common room, thinking only of how much he hated the four Gryffindors who called themselves 'the Marauders'.

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I've always wanted to write that. Now I'm done. Please review… because I love that….


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